This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
In automotive vehicles, it is common to have a climate control system located within an instrument panel which provides heated or cooled air to occupants through dash panel defrost air outlets, instrument panel venting air outlets and floor directed air outlets. These traditional climate control systems often include a heater core that performs heat exchange between the engine coolant, which is heated by the engine, and the cool air in the cabin/outside environment, in order to provide warm air to the passenger compartment. Some vehicles include an air conditioning system that cooperates with an evaporator for absorbing heat from the air in the vehicle. The heater core and evaporator are typically provided in an HVAC housing located in the passenger compartment of the vehicle.
In some vehicles, the climate control system is adapted to control three zones of the cabin space. Generally, the three zones include the driver's side, the passenger's side and the rear occupant zone. The HVAC housing typically includes ducting to accommodate air distribution to these appropriate zones as desired. The heater core is generally disposed downstream of a fan for communicating warmed air into the passenger compartment.
More recently, there has been an increased interest in providing temperature-controlled storage within the automotive vehicle. These temperature-controlled storage areas can include glove compartments, coolers, warming bins, and the like that are disposed within the passenger compartment of the vehicle to promote easy access thereto. These temperature-controlled storage areas can be cooled using the conditioned air from the HVAC system. In this regard, cooled air can be ducted to the temperature-controlled storage area to provide an associated temperature controlled environment within the storage area for maintaining an item, such as food or beverages, at a predetermined temperature.
In conventional applications, the ducting and manual temperature control system must be designed and incorporated into the HVAC and other vehicle systems at the time of initial vehicle development to accommodate the necessary space requirements and controls. Therefore, these systems typically can not be retrofitted to existing vehicles.